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*Financier George Soros and Hillary Clinton. Soros is doing his best to support her campaign for president* - I've been saying for some time that I believe Donald Trump was encouraged to enter the Republican presidential race in order to throw a bomb inside that operation to ensure that Hillary Clinton gets elected. I've mentioned in the past about Bill Clinton's phone call to Trump shortly before he declared for the Republican nomination. The Washington Post ran a story where it is quite clear that Bill Clinton was encouraging Trump to run. Why would h...more »

*It was only a matter of time... the arms race of drones... -AK* http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/net-guns-dont-just-capture-animals-they-take-down-drones *Net Guns Don’t Just Capture Animals, They Take Down Drones* *How to handle an invasive, buzzing quadcopter: throw a net over it.* *By **Eric Grundhauser* MAY 26, 2016 This drone has been outfitted with an anti-drone net gun. (Photo: FliteTest/Youtube) Though they look like something out of a superhero comic book, net launchers and net guns are devices that exist in the real world. They're mainly used to humanely trap wild an...more »

http://spaceweather.com/ *SPRITES (AND SOMETHING MORE) OVER OKLAHOMA: *On May 23rd, an enormous swarm of sprites flickered and danced across the top of a thunderstorm in Oklahoma. Almost 400 miles away in New Mexico, amateur astronomer Thomas Ashcraft trained his cameras on the display. He captured the sprites--and something more: "Note the dendritic upward spray in the midst of the sprite cluster," points out Ashcraft. "That is a possible 'pop-through gigantic jet'--a rare event." Ashcraft has posted a video of the event with VLF-ELF radio emissions he recorded as a soundtrac...more »

[image: Hillary Clinton2 - 900] The State Department’s inspector general released a report this week concluding that Hillary Clinton is a breathtakingly brazen and consistent liar. No, that’s not a direct quote. Bureaucrats don’t talk that way under the best of circumstances -- and this IG,...more »

[image: Hillary Clinton3 - 900] Hillary Clinton has been groping around for a campaign slogan. She’s just unveiled her seventh meaningless catchphrase. How about “Still lying and breaking all the rules”? That one probably wouldn’t help her campaign much -- though with leftist voters these days,...more »

[image: Donald Trump3 - 900] This week, two leading conservative writers made cases for why queasy Republicans should (or will) suck it up and eventually support Donald Trump. This happened, somewhat hilariously, in the same week in which Trump spent approximately fifteen minutes mocking various...more »

YouGov polling released this morning indicates most Bernie voters recognize Hillary is the likely nominee and 68% think she can beat Trump in the general election. Wounds are too fresh, self-righteous indignation too strong and fundamental values-driven differences too apparent to everyone but Joe Biden, for a kumbaya moment... yet. But half of Sanders voters are not yet ready to support Clinton in a Clinton-Trump matchup. In fact, the percentage of Sanders supporters willing to vote for Clinton has dropped in the last few weeks. At the end of April, 63% of Sanders supporters ...more »

I've somehow stumbled across the first and last Andromedan Queens. No coincidences right? They both approached me privately about their origins and the possible reasons for the very odd experiences they have had in this life. Both women are remarkably similar in many ways. They really could be taken for sisters. Both have given permission for this data to be released. Its safe now. The Andromedan Royalty is a thing of antiquity, and will not be reestablished. AK/Terran left, Martha center, Beverly on right. Martha is standing on a rock. AK/Terran left, Beverly center, Martha ...more »

*CNN:* *ISIS on Europe's doorstep* *How terror is infiltrating the migrant route.* Tripoli, Libya (CNN)The call was simple, but it changed what an already dark business meant for one smuggler. Abu Walid knew his caller to be a devout man, a member of ISIS. And his request was chilling. Could he ship 25 of his people from Libya to Europe on a small boat for $40,000? Abu Walid -- not his real name -- declined. But it is a request that's becoming increasingly common, he told CNN, in the past two months. ISIS is trying to infiltrate this trade to get their people to Europe from the ...more »

[image: In this May 23, 2014 file photo, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates addresses the Boy Scouts of America's annual meeting, in Nashville, Tenn. As he leaves the volunteer presidency of the Boy Scouts of America, Gates said the organization is well-positioned for the future after deciding to allow gay adult leaders in its ranks. The former U.S. secretary of defense ended his two-year term Thursday, May 26, 2016, as volunteer president. He was replaced by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.] DALLAS (AP) -- Robert Gates became the Boy Scouts of America’s president facing deep division...more »

The supertanker of improbability keeps sailing on around the world every harbour is open but not for long when they realize whats being carried and just how toxic it can be an so old millions of years or more I am told Who wants old smelly sticky stuff these days? Ok its realisable and pr oven way to keep winter away and let you travel in comfort but while the upfront cost is minimal the lifecyle costs are unsustainable so why buy when long before it you will die I loved you big time for your vehicles never knowing a kilowatt could do the same but better its just we did not try cause ...more »

*CNN*: *Dozens feared drowned as latest migrant boat sinks off Libya* (CNN)As many as 30 migrants may have drowned when their boat sank off the coast of Libya on Thursday, the European Union's anti-trafficking naval operation said, a day after another boat capsized in the region, costing five lives. The European Union's anti-trafficking naval force in the Mediterranean, known as Operation Sophia, said there may be 20 to 30 fatalities from the latest sinking in the Mediterranean Sea, about 48 to 64 kilometers (30 to 40 miles) off Libya. The Italian coast guard said it could not co...more »

I don't mean to brag but when I saw Sean Patrick Maloney's last minute amendment to the Veterans and Military Construction Appropriations bill I was happy and I wondered why the Republicans allowed it through. At the time, I wrote that Maloney had "managed to trick the tired and weary Republicans into letting him add a last minute amendment to the Veterans and Military Construction Appropriations bill the House was debating. The Republicans could have ruled it out of order but they missed the chance and it made it onto the schedule and got voted on Thursday morning. The purpose was...more »

*A Truck Vanishes* We have a kind of an alley here in the hill country of Texas, more a flower meadow than alley as nobody drives up it. It just a service road for power lines. We noticed a heavy vehicle came up either late Friday night or early Saturday. Tracks from a heavy vehicle came in, stopped at the end of the property, *then vanished. * The vehicle did not back out or reverse. The bent over flowers do not lie. We did not see nor hear the vehicle. We are very protected here. As has been the case since early 2013. *Truck path end no sign of vehicle reversing* *Truck ...more »

[image: With the Atomic Bomb Dome as a backdrop, passers-by move past riot police near Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan, Thursday, May 26, 2016. U.S. President Barack Obama is set to visit Hiroshima on Friday, May 27 after the Group of Seven summit in central Japan, becoming the first serving American president to do so.] HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) -- Convinced that the time for this moment is right at last, President Barack Obama on Friday will become the first American president to confront the historic and haunted ground of Hiroshima. Here, at this place...more »

Trump has now officially secured the delegats necessary for nomination, and even deluded New Zealanders are excited they can now vote for their favourite strongman. (They can’t.) Ayn Rand has some advice for those however who can and would contemplate voting for someone without a priniciple in sight, and for whom they would have no practical idea of what they would even be voting *for*. First, *If a candidate evades, equivocates and hides his stand under a junk-heap of random concretes, we must add up those concretes and judge him accordingly. If his stand is mixed, we must ev...more »

[image: History - 900] WASHINGTON -- How do you distinguish a foreign policy “idealist” from a “realist,” an optimist from a pessimist? Ask one question: Do you believe in the arrow of history? Or to put it another way, do you think history is...more »

Recently, this site has attracted a very large audience in the U.S. It has always had a steady, but small, U.S. readership - something to be expected of a blog that deals with a newspaper chain which is pretty small potatoes at best. Its U.S. audience has normally been in a league with audiences in France, Russia, Germany.... But now it has suddenly soared to beat all the others put together. More curiously, that large, American audience appears in three, very narrow and sharp spikes per day. And each spike is of 140 hits - or very, very close to that. I have pairs of spikes side b...more »

*A layman's odyssey every 'open-minded' Atheist, Jew, Christian, Muslim, Agnostic or Spiritual seeker must read!**Art Schade's tour de force work of creative fiction which focuses on looking for God in a world of religious confusion brought me face to face with how differently, regardless of religion, we all interpret God in a time of crisis ~ and yet how similar many of these interpretations seem to appear in regards to a God of love, empathy and compassion: Allen L Roland, PhD* *Art Schade / Author* Art Schade is a Marine and Vietnam combat Veteran, ~ wi...more »

[image: BreakPoint_commentary_05_26_16] How we view our bodies says a lot about our worldview. Are bodies something we merely "have" or are they core to who we are? Every time I check the weather on my phone these days, I first have to...more »

*Francisco Toro, VOX*: *How Venezuela’s socialist dream collapsed into a nightmare* Venezuela is in the midst of a stunning social, political, and economic collapse. The country of 30 million people is facing dire food and medicine shortages, frequent power outages, serious political unrest, the world’s highest inflation rate, rampant violent crime, and one of the world’s highest murder rates. Earlier this month, Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, declared a state of emergency. In short, Venezuela has become the world’s most visibly failing state. *Read more* .... *Commentar...more »

[image: Harvard Law School Sign - 900] Leaked notes from an alleged meeting between Harvard Law School (HLS) professors and student activists shows them planning how to coordinate their efforts in order to take the school in a more institutionally left-wing direction. The notes also suggest that...more »

[image: Hillary Clinton] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was supposed to have turned over all work-related emails to the State Department to be released to the public. But an agency audit found at least three emails never seen before --...more »

United Nations special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura attends a news conference after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, May 3, 2016. REUTERS/SERGEI KARPUKHIN *Reuters:* *U.N. envoy tells Security Council no Syria talks for two-three weeks* There will be no new round of Syria talks for at least two or three weeks, the office of U.N. special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said in a statement on Thursday, after he consulted the U.N. Security Council for about two and a half hours. "He briefed on his intention to start the next round of ta...more »

*Ruben Kihuen, Lucy Flores* It's been almost a year since Blue America took at look at the Democratic candidates lining up to run against Republican incumbent Cresent Hardy in NV-04 (a Blue district the DCCC managed to blunder into losing in 2014) and we endorsed the proven, accomplished progressive in the race, state Senator Ruben Kihuen. Although it's a huge, sprawling district, most of the population lives in North Las Vegas and Dems have a substantial and growing registration advantage, 46-33%. Obama beat McCain there 56-41% and then beat Romney 54-44%. No one could lose a distr...more »

[image: Fetus DNA] Babies born at 22 weeks and 23 weeks of gestation are likely to survive if given proper care, according to a new study of infants born at a German hospital. 25 percent “born at the border of viability and offered active care...more »

China is about to send submarines armed with nuclear missiles into the Pacific Ocean for the first time, arguing that new US weapons systems have undermined Beijing’s existing deterrent force leaving them with no choice. Beijing points out that the US plans to station the Thaad anti-ballistic system in South Korea and develop of hypersonic glide missiles potentially capable of hitting China less than an hour after being launched. The Guardian reports: Chinese military officials are not commenting on the timing of a maiden patrol, but insist the move is inevitable. They point to plan...more »

[image: Research finds clues to uncanny electrical conductivity in Earth's mantle] *Researchers have found that the dehydration of chlorite is likely crucial in explaining the high electrical conductivity * *observed in the Earth’s mantle [Credit: Johan Swanepoel/Getty Images]* This is interesting as it provides a mechanism for local conductivity at least. Yet it does not easily overcome resistance natural to the materials. My own conjecture works as we go much deeper to the temperature transition zone in which all minerals disassociate. I suspect that that zone comprises liqu...more »

This report conforms well to the female Giant sloth. We have the long bushy tail and no observation of upper body robustness. All works well. More noteworthy is the narrow food print which also conforms to sloth expectations. Upright canines are not canines at all. There is some variety and may indicate speciation. Without specimens we do not know. Most curious are rare tales of horns. More reports are now coming in and this is somewhat improving our picture. So far the Appalachians have been the best source of such reports although they actually are nation...more »

As always we are saying too much on the basis of scant data. tribes and such were remarkably stable over vast lengths of time and we should not presume massive displacement based on one locale. It was nothing of the kind. At best new comers were invited in and then absorbed on the basis of numbers. It is only when technology leaps to provide a local population advantage that this pattern can change,but even then adoption is the rule. Every study is tossing up alternative interpretations and they cannot all be right if any of them can be right anyway. I keep thinking that we ...more »

This is a worthwhile note on a much too obvious impulse. It solves nothing and simply spreads the barbarism a bit further. That the radicals think that the Kaaba is idolatry is a reminder of our own religious wars. I had not known that little twist. all good. *What Happens if Someone Nukes the Black Cube? * *Posted on May 8, 2016 by Baron Bodissey* * http://gatesofvienna.net/2016/05/what-happens-if-the-someone-nukes-the-black-cube/* *Ten years ago I used to discourage discussion of nuking Mecca. There were two reasons for my aversion to the topic: (1) I felt it was intemp...more »

*Reuters*: *Obama says expects Taliban to continue strategy of violence under new leader* U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he expects the Taliban to continue a strategy of violence following the appointment of a hardline leader, adding that the United States aims to uphold Afghanistan's fragile democratization and prevent its use as a base by Islamic State. "This continues to be an organization that sees violence as a strategy for obtaining its goals and moving its agenda forward in Afghanistan," said Obama, told reporters during a Group of Seven summit at Ise-Shima in...more »

[image: budget] Everybody with a sober talkspace wants to yak about yesterday's Budget. But what is there to talk about in any depth? Bill English is going to take even more of your money in the coming year – and if you’re a smoker the smarmy prick is going to tax the hell out of you. And he wants to spend even more of it than he did last year. He doesn't want to give you any more of your money back until election year. And he sort of wants to pay back some of the ginormous $118 billion government debt he's built up over his tenure, but (like St Augustine) not really. Not ye...more »

*I couldn't have imagined it would have been just the Canadian Special Forces wearing Kurdish regalia *. *Why are Canadian troops in Iraq wearing Kurdish flag?* *The American nation destroyers, terror state creators supporting terrorists* In the ongoing fight around Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital city inside Syria, some American Special Forces soldiers are wearing Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) patches on their uniforms as they back up Kurdish troops. U.S. troops in northern #Syria are wearing Kurdish YPG patches. What you just heard was Erdogan's head exp...more »

[image: Bible and Rosary - 900] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has declared war on Catholic hospitals for refusing to provide abortions. The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday to get access to all documents related to complaints against Catholic hospitals refusing to perform abortions....more »

In a 2001 shootout in Yurécuaro, Mexican soldiers killed four men said to be members of a drug gang. A bystander was also killed, the local news media reported. Credit Leovigildo Gonzalez/Reuters *Reuters: **Body Count Points to a Mexican Military Out of Control* MEXICO CITY — In the history of modern war, fighters are much more likely to injure their enemies than kill them. But in Mexico, the opposite is true. According to the government’s own figures, Mexico’s armed forces are exceptionally efficient killers — stacking up bodies at extraordinary rates. The Mexican authorities sa...more »

Israeli warplanes launched two airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday morning following reports that a rocket had landed in southern Israel late on Wednesday night. The airstrikes hit an area west of Rafah and the Nuseirat refugee camp located in the southern and central Gaza Strip according to Palestinian media reports. According to Press TV: No casualties have yet been reported in the Thursday morning attacks that followed alleged reports of a rocket fired at an open area in the western part of the occupied Palestinian territories on Wednesday night. The Israeli militar...more »

I am proudly 57 years old and I would not take a day away and sure I made bad choices in the margins but nothing like investeing it Northern Telecom which tured my life upside down but no matter being rich I dont give afuck or maybe half a one It happened I died on the stock market I was a muppet lead willinginly to slaugher so have no sympathy for me as I sturggle to fill my pool with bath salts and not drink the water making me officialy NCR insane Not Crimanily Responible is bullshit what is worth saving we are so nuts shoot that fucker like a damage dog] there is no way in any w...more »

*THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016How can such standards work:* Over at Slate, Sarah Garland reports about the new grade-level math standards adopted for the public schools in the state of Texas. The new math standards aren't quite brand-new. But according to Garland, this is the first year that statewide tests on these new standards will count: GARLAND (5/26/16): [T]his year, New Frontiers Charter School in San Antonio needed its best teachers to help younger students get ready for a new set of math standards Texas adopted in 2012, so Demore switched to elementary school. *It’s the second...more »

A U.S. fighter jet launches from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the Arabian Gulf in this file photo. (REUTERS) *New York Times*: *U.S. Says Its Strikes Are Hitting More Significant ISIS Targets* WASHINGTON — Nearly two years into the American-led air war against the Islamic State, military officials say they have corrected the poor intelligence collection and clumsy process for identifying targets that initially plagued the campaign, and are now hitting targets like oil rigs and secret cash coffers that finance the terrorist group’s war machine. The destruction in recent...more »

The supertanker of improbability keeps sailing on around the world every harbour is open but not for long when they realize whats being carried and just how toxic it can be an so old millions of years or more I am told Who wants old smelly sticky stuff these days? Ok its realisable and pr oven way to keep winter away and let you travel in comfort but while the upfront cost is minimal the lifecyle costs are unsustainable so why buy when long before it you will die I loved you big time for your vehicles never knowing a kilowatt could do the same but better its just we did not try cause ...more »

*THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016Bruni's avoiding Trump voters:* Should the term "redskins" be regarded as an insult, a slur? We wouldn't use the term ourselves. That said, the Washington Post recently conducted a survey of 504 Native Americans, seeking their views concerning the use of the term. Many people found the survey's results surprising. This is the way the Post began its lengthy front-page report: COX (5/20/16): *Nine in 10 Native Americans say they are not offended by the Washington Redskins name,* according to a new Washington Post poll that shows how few ordinary Indians have ...more »

Citation omissions in an economics preprint have set off a wave of recrimination and speculation on a widely read economics discussion board. Commenters accuse the authors of purposely omitting citations that would have undermined the paper’s claims to novelty and contributions to the field, leveling acrimony and personal attacks. Economists Petra Persson at Stanford and […] The post Economists go wild over overlooked citations in preprint on prenatal stress appeared first on Retraction Watch.

*are we going to see some judges arrested?* Possibly. The Tallahassee Police Department is not releasing details in the arrest of a suspect in the 2014 killing of FSU law professor Dan Markel because of an ongoing investigation. Sigredo Garcia, 34, was arrested Wednesday night in Hallandale Beach north of Miami on a charge of murder. The probable cause affidavit in his arrest has been sealed. "This case is ongoing and continuing," said TPD spokesman Dave Northway. "So if we were to release all of the details of the case, that would jeopardize our case that we are continuing to wo...more »

A Catholic nun was arrested on Monday evening for obstructing an ongoing immunisation campaign against measles and rubella in Nakuru County in Kenya. The ministry of health had announced that the campaign launched by the Kenyan government was targeting 19 million children aged between 9 months and 14 years. Sister Cecilia Kamau, the headmistress of the Catholic sponsored St Anthony Academy was arrested after obstructing the immunisation of over 700 pupils. According to Truth Kings: Nakuru County public health official Samuel King’ori and a fleet of police presence stormed the place ...more »

By Paul Homewoodcc http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2016/05/japan-leads-overseas-coal-power-project-funding-report-shows.html?cmpid=EnlPEIMay262016&eid=296412419&bid=1414878 From PEI: Japan is the leading funder of coal-fired power plants in developing countries, a new report from environmental groups has shown. The report was issued this week as Japan prepares to host a G7 summit which will include discussions on climate change. The environmental groups say Japan […]

Lockheed Martin *Flight Global:* *USAF warms to F-22 Raptor revival proposal* At a time when budget constraints are driving the US Air Force to divest fighter and attack aircraft faster than they can be replaced with the Lockheed Martin F-35, outgoing chief of staff Gen Mark Welsh says it would not be a “wild idea” to resume production of an improved version of the F-22 Raptor air superiority jet. The Pentagon’s latest aviation inventory and funding plan says the flying branch has “insufficient resources” to maintain the 1,900 warplane level mandated by Congress beyond the current...more »

An F-35B from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 near its base at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina. Lockheed Martin *Amanda Macias and Alex Lockie, Business Insider*: *America's most expensive weapons system ever just hit another snag* *America's most expensive weapons system ever just hit another snag.* The F-35 Lightning II, Lockheed Martin's fifth-generation fighter jet, is expected to miss another crucial deadline on its march to combat readiness. On Tuesday, the Pentagon acknowledged that the jet would stumble pass its operational testing phase. "The target was the midd...more »

Deadly convoy: Dozens of U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons demonstrate an 'Elephant Walk' as they taxi down a runway during an exercise at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, to practise for a wartime mission. This picture is among a gallery of images chosen to showcase a year in the life of the U.S. Air force in 2012 *David Axe, Daily Beast:* *The U.S. Air Force Is Running Out of Fighter Jets* Congress is insisting that the U.S. military field more dogfighters than its Russian and Chinese rivals. All signs point to the Air Force missing that goal. The U.S. Air Force is running out ...more »

*The Hill*:* US nuclear emergency messaging system still uses floppy disks* The Defense Department’s system for sending emergency messages to nuclear forces is made up of aging technology that runs on a 1970s-era computer system and uses 8-inch floppy disks. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) made the finding in a broad report highlighting the billions of dollars the government spends every year to maintain largely outdated information technology (IT). “Replacement parts for the system are difficult to find because they are now obsolete,” the report concluded. *Read mor...more »

*IBTimes:* *G7 Summit 2016: Global Economic Risks Dominate Agenda As Shinzo Abe Compares Conditions To Financial Crisis* Leaders of the G-7 nations on Thursday voiced their concerns over the state of the world’s economy, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe going so far as to say that current global economic conditions were comparable to those in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when the investment banking behemoth Lehman Brothers collapsed in the U.S. *Read more* .... *MIDDLE EAST* Syria civil war tops *Russia-Arab Gulf meeting agenda*. Syria conflict: Vital aid ...more »

*Sputnik*: *Taliban Military Operations Unaffected by Leadership Change* Taliban military operations will not be notably impacted by the group's recent change in leadership given its command structure will remain intact, former US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) official Seth Jones told Sputnik. WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – On Wednesday, the Taliban confirmed it had appointed Haibatullah Akhundzada as its new leader to replace Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan over the weekend. *Read more* .... *Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- May 26, 20...more »

*CNN*: *Obama: World leaders 'rattled' by Trump* (CNN)President Barack Obama touched on the rancorous U.S. presidential race at a press conference Thursday from the G-7 summit in Japan, saying that presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump's statements had his fellow world leaders concerned. "They're rattled by him and for good reason," Obama said. "Because a lot of the proposals that he's made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude or an interest in getting tweets and headlines instead of actually thinking through what is required to keep America safe....more »

*AFP:* *Beijing lines up diplomatic battle groups over South China Sea* Beijing (AFP) - The disputed rocks and reefs of the South China Sea are more than an ocean away from the landlocked African nation of Niger. But that has not stopped the strife-ridden, largely desert country of 17 million people adding its voice to a growing diplomatic chorus that Beijing says supports its rejection of an international tribunal hearing on the waters. Others apparently singing from the same hymn sheet include Togo, Afghanistan and Burundi. They are among the latest foot soldiers in "a public r...more »

*I again have had to take care of personal and other business these last few days, and once again I am playing "catch up" on putting articles at this blog... My apologies to my readers, but again life does take precedence some times... I have been watching all the bullshit coming out of the Mainstream media these last few days, especially the OUTRIGHT LIE that is being promoted that Egyptair Flight 804 "did not" make any "evasive maneuvers" before it disappeared off of radar in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on its final approach to landing at Cairo Egypt... This sudden change from t...more »

India’s welfare minister has claimed that Indian women “are being sold like products in a retail shop” to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Women are sold for £4000 in Saudi Arabia and around £2000 in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. Palle Raghunatha Reddy said that women from Andhra Pradesh and the neighbouring state of Telangana are being denied human rights and held in horrific conditions in Gulf state jails after fleeing their employers or overstaying their visas. The Independent reports: In a letter to India’s foreign minister, Reddy appealed to the national gov...more »

Trump doesn't respect women; we all know that. He's made it clear his entire life and has continued making it clear through his campaign. The video above shows him denigrating Republican governor Susana Martinez Tuesday night. The same day he called Hillary Clinton "a 'low-life' and 'lightweight,' he added that he 'can’t listen' to Clinton’s attacks against him, because 'she screams and drives me crazy.'" Not being able to listen to women has always been a major problem for Trump. So far it hasn't caught up to him. If Hillary is going to win the presidency, she has to make sure i...more »

Trump one liners for Hillary What is the greatest challange President Hillary will face? Keeping Bill away from the Interns What will be the most agravating thing President Hillary will have to endure? Her Secrect Service code name will be Bengazi. Why would President Hillary never get into a trade war with China? Its her only source of pants suits

By Paul Homewood While Bloomberg were trumpeting that Germany has gotten all of its electricity from renewables for a few minutes on Sunday, (which as we discovered was not actually true anyway), for some reason they forgot to mention that, two days later at peak demand, renewables contributed less than a third. And when […]

Actor Corey Feldman has claimed that paedophilia is a prevalent problem in Hollywood and that he’d ‘love to name names’ “But unfortunately California conveniently enough has a statute of limitations that prevents that from happening. Because if I were to go and mention anybody’s name I would be the one that would be in legal problems and I’m the one that would be sued.” he said. The 44-year-old best known for his roles in The Goonies and The Lost Boys, reiterated Elijah Woods’ recent warnings about child sex abuse in Hollywood. Last week, Wood,who played Frodo Baggins in the lord of ...more »

*Source: PLANETA UFO and www.peru.comDate: 05.23.2016* *Mexico: Mexican Musician Records "UFO fleet"* What this video uploaded to YouTube clearly depicts are unidentified flying objects. Therefore, the term "UFO fleet" fits perfectly. It was recorded in the skies over Tijuana, Mexico - an area that has drawn the attention of many experts of the UFO phenomenon, since in recent years, sighting reports have become incessant. The recording was made on the night of April 18, 2016 in Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, by corrido music artist Charly STPX, who after rehearsing with his band nea...more »

Authors have admitted to using material from another lab for their paper on neuroblastoma. A spokesperson for Springer told us that the theft came to light when: The scientists, from whom the data originated, contacted the journal. The editor in chief of the journal investigated the case, the spokesperson told us, and then issued this retraction notice: […] The post Cancer researchers: We took data from another lab appeared first on Retraction Watch.

*THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016Part 3—The role of the mainstream press:* History teaches that Professor Harold Hill was the original "music man." In fairness, Professor Hill *wasn't* a "snake-oil salesman" in the literal sense. He wasn't selling elixir remedies or other ersatz health cures which could actually kill you. He was working a gentler scam when he went to River City in July 1912. He was going to sell trombones to the people of that town—real trombones which the people of the town were actually going to get. As the leading authority has explained, he was just going to skip out of...more »

*another side of Trump.* I gleefully stole this from Hardnox, frequent commenter, friend, and fellow blogger over at *Nox and Friends. * Here's something I just found out about him. He's a master woodworker. No, really. Just take a gander at his website *Westphalia Wood Works *and be amazed.

*Source: PLANETA UFO and www.perfil.comDate: 5/24/2016* *Argentina: Former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was Instrumental in Creating CEFAE* Argentina has its own national UFO research agency, the *Comisión para el Estudio de Fenómenos Espaciales* (CEFAE - Commission for the Study of Aerospatial Phenomena), created in 2011 during the presidency of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Its creation was brought about by the "growing number of sightings in the country", but it wasn't until 2015 that CEFAE published its first report, recording 10 sightings of Unidentified Flyin...more »

[image: Memorial War Veteran Crosses Military Service - 900] A town in Georgia recently removed 79 white crosses meant to commemorate the lives of U.S. military personnel for Memorial Day, after someone complained the crosses had a religious connotation. But on Wednesday morning, city hall placed the crosses back on display. These...more »

For a period there was a debate over how the Islamic State and its predecessors Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq were organized. The two main concepts were of a decentralized networked organization of cells or a centralized bureaucratic one. The RAND Corporation recently released a report on the Islamic State of Iraq, “Foundations of the Islamic State, Management, Money, and Terror in Iraq, 2005-2010,” based upon captured documents from the group. What those papers revealed was that the Islamic State was based upon a hierarchical, top down model. When the Iraq insurg...more »

British prime minister David Cameron is trying to fast-track an EU-Canada trade deal without parliamentary consent. A set of leaked notes that were allegedly made during the EU Foreign Affairs/Trade-Council in Brussels on 13 May, appears to show that the UK is aggressively pushing for a controversial trade between the EU and Canada to be implemented through parliament before MP’s have a chance to vote on the issue. RT reports: The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is free trade deal between Canada and Europe, which shares many traits with the Transatlantic Trade and...more »

From Road House Blues we learn: Charnin’s blog posts on the April 26 states, New York, Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, March 15 states, and Super Tuesday states: https://richardcharnin.wordpress.com/ Election fraud is real. A group of citizen observers told Chicago Board of Elections officials at an April 5 meeting that BOE [Board of Elections] employees changed hand-counted tallies to match

*May 17, 2016* (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - Four of the top five Global Fortune 500 corporations are involved in petroleum refining. Together with big-finance and industrial giants like big-auto and utility monopolies, big-oil dominates the global economy. The monopoly it enjoys grants it the unwarranted power and influence it has wielded throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. And because big-oil is integrated into big-finance and other corporate-financier monopolies through various mutual interests, its influence reaches even further still. The ability to manipulate prices in the ma...more »

Chinese nuclear submarines on patrol. Ground Report *The Guardian*: *China to send nuclear-armed submarines into Pacific amid tensions with US* Beijing risks stoking new arms race with move although military says expansion of the US missile defence has left it with no choice. The Chinese military is poised to send submarines armed with nuclear missiles into the Pacific Ocean for the first time, arguing that new US weapons systems have so undermined Beijing’s existing deterrent force that it has been left with no alternative. Chinese military officials are not commenting on the tim...more »

Defense Secretary Ash Carter explores the capabilities of the USS New Mexico during a visit to Naval Submarine Base New London, Conn., on May 24, 2016. (DoD photo by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz) *PJ Media*: *Defense Secretary Ponders How to Change 'Unmanned' Job Titles to Gender-Neutral Wording* Defense Secretary Ashton Carter expressed openness today to editing military job titles to make "man" more gender-neutral, even as he struggled with a way to make "unmanned" less masculine. The Marine Corps Times reported last week that the service is reviewing its job titles...more »

*BBC*: *Cuba legalises small and medium private businesses* Cuba's government has announced that it is legalising small and medium-sized private businesses. It is the latest stage of reforms begun when President Raul Castro took over from his brother, Fidel in 2008. Raul Castro has been trying to stimulate Cuba's stagnant economy but has faced resistance from Cuban Communist Party hardliners. With the restoration of relations with the US last year, Cuba is also opening up to foreign investment. The government currently allows self-employment in several hundred job categories fro...more »

*The Intercept:* *“American Sniper” Chris Kyle Distorted His Military record, Document Show* NO AMERICAN HAS been more associated with the Navy SEAL mystique than Chris Kyle, known as the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history. His bestselling autobiography, American Sniper — a story of honor, glory, and quiet heroism — has sold more than a million copies. The movie adaptation became the highest-grossing war film in American history. “All told,” Kyle wrote in his book, “I would end my career as a SEAL with two Silver Stars and five Bronze [Stars], all for valor.” But Kyle, who...more »

A Memorial Day display featuring dozens of white crosses to honor fallen soldiers was removed from public property in Georgia after someone complained. (WSB-TV) *Washington Times*: *Memorial Day crosses for fallen soldiers removed after single complaint* A Memorial Day display featuring dozens of white crosses to honor fallen soldiers was removed from public property in Georgia after someone complained. The 79 handmade crosses in Hiram were meant to represent the 79 Paulding County residents who died in America’s wars, officials told Fox News. Hours after the crosses were posted ...more »

HS2 rail link 'over-priced' say transport experts The academics - including some leading lights in transport - support high-speed rail overall, but say HS2 is five times more expensive than its French equivalent. HS2 has been designed to increase capacity and connections, regenerate the North and reduce climate impacts change. Yet the critics say it will only achieve one of these - capacity.

*20th century global warming may have been due to decreasing aroma from trees* *The finding below are particularly interesting in the aftermath of Munshi's demonstration that the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere is NOT of anthropogenic origin. So therefore anthropogenic CO2 emissions CANNOT explain the slight degree of global warming seen in C20. So what does explain it? The best explanation so far is Svensmark's theory that variations cosmic rays reaching earth affect cloud formation and that earth was substantially shielded from such rays by enhanced solar activity in C20....more »

The European Journal of Neuroscience has pulled a paper after learning that one author’s name had been included without his consent. Co-editor-in-chief of the journal, Paul Bolam, told us that the Shandong University of Medicine in China (where the work was carried out) conducted an investigation and found “a serious case of academic misconduct” — one […] The post Neuroscientist forged co-author’s signature, submitted paper without consent appeared first on Retraction Watch.

[image: liveaction] A pro-life advocacy group published a series of man-on-the-street interviews to make the case that some pro-choice Americans shift to a pro-life position when encountered with the reality of abortion. On Tuesday, Live Action,a nonprofit organization based in Arlington,...more »

If there was one policy which doomed the Harperites in the last election, it was their steadfast refusal to do anything about climate change. Chantal Hebert writes: Last October, a mismanaged election campaign only compounded the decade-long mismanagement of some core policies. Few of those are more closely identified with Harper’s leadership than the party’s dismissive approach to climate change. On his watch, it became part of the Conservative brand and an albatross around the party’s neck. At both ends of the nation, Harper's refusal to tackle the problem led to his defeat: ...more »

Greece has closed off its airspace for flights to and from Libya until September amid rumors of a looming NATO operation in the country. The first country to close its airspace for aircraft departing from Libya was Italy, followed by Malta. They along with Greece have issued relevant NOTAMs. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that the Alliance was ready to intervene in the situation in Libya if the country’sUnity government filed a corresponding request. RT reports: A notice to airmen (NOTAM) was issued by the Greek authorities on Wednesday, which bans Libyan fl...more »

Many Democrats are pushing to dump Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the head of the DNC where she has been the author of so much potentially catastrophic party disunity. Hillary dead-enders-- primarily women-first senators like Barbara Mikulski and Kirsten Gillibrand-- have rushed to Wasserman Schultz's defense. Yesterday, the execrable Steve Israel also weighed in for her, telling Chad Pergram of Fox News that although Wasserman Schultz is a drama queen responsible for her own problems, it's a mistake to think of her as the issue when "Democratic division is the issue" and that the wh...more »

*''Politics becomes a joke rather than a reality.''* Giuliani Attacks Sharpton As Unqualified to Be Mayor Interjecting himself further into the Democratic mayoral runoff yesterday, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said the Rev. Al Sharpton was unqualified to be mayor, challenged the Manhattan Borough President, Ruth W. Messinger, to do the same and prepared to release another television advertisement trumpeting his support among Democrats. While trying to drive a wedge between the two remaining Democratic contenders and pin Ms. Messinger in a position of upsetting one Democratic constit...more »

*Free nursery places at age three 'do not boost a child's education': Findings raise questions over £2bn state spending on subsidising childcare* *"Headstart" doesn't work in Britain either* Children who were given free nursery school places at the age of three gained no educational benefit, a major study said yesterday. It found that by the age of seven there were no differences in school achievement between pupils who had previously taken up the free places and those who hadn’t. The findings throw a major new question mark over state spending on subsidised childcare, which bega...more »

[image: Male and Female Bathrooms - 900] A nationally ranked Minnesota charter school facing a discrimination complaint by the parents of a former kindergarten transgender student approved a controversial new gender inclusion policy at a school board meeting. While the school board, which consists of a mix of...more »

[image: In this photo provided by ABC, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, talks with host Jimmy Kimmel during a taping of the ABC television show, "Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Los Angeles. Trump made an appearance as a guest, along with musical guest Greg Porter on the late night show, which airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST. (Randy Holmes/ABC via AP)] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Chances are likely slim, but what about a Donald Trump-Bernie Sanders debate heading into the crucial June 7 California primary? That possibility surfaced Wednesday, ev...more »

[image: First Amendment - 900] The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a video Tuesday explaining the link between marriage and religious freedom and what that could mean in the fight to “redefine” marriage to include persons of the same sex. Marriage is much...more »

[image: Supreme Court] Here's a quick smell test that I use when someone presents me with what he considers a brave and "radical" interpretation of the Gospel: Are this theory’s implications so appalling -- not just for me, but the whole human race...more »

[image: This Thursday, March 17, 2016 photo shows Cleveland Police walking with pedestrians as they patrol the area in downtown Cleveland. City officials have been coy about their plans for handling convention protests, saying only they are prepared for “challenges” and are working to free up jail cells, while activists have warily eyed the city’s acquisition of riot gear. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)] CLEVELAND (AP) -- Organizers for two groups on opposite ends of the political spectrum are unhappy with a protest route designated for the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, arguing...more »

On Monday a series of coordinated and organized bombings across the Syrian coast left more than 100 people dead. There has been little or no mention of the Syrian attacks other than ISIS being the group responsible and there was no mass expression of condolences or solidarity with Syria as was seen during the Paris or Belgian terror attacks. The attacks took place in Tartus and Jobleh at a time when the areas were expected to be crowded with civilians. Russian bases are located in both the cities which are loyal to the Syrian government. But which terrorist group was behind the at...more »

This post may contain affiliate links. Is it possible to be a casual Whovian? If it is, I haven't met anyone who has managed it yet. There is something about the Doctor, the Tardis and all of the companions that seeps into your soul and comes out in every part of your life. Over the past few years, I have slowly accumulated more and more Doctor Who items. My best friend and I do the 12 days of Doctor Who for each other at Christmas time, and my husband was sick of the Tardis being all over our house. When we moved and I finally got the work space of my dreams, I decided a Doctor W...more »

[image: Green Cards, U.S. Immigration, Immigrants, Emigration, Department of Homeland Security, USA] The U.S. government sharply increased the number of green cards for Middle Eastern immigrants from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq in 2014, newly released data from the Department of Homeland Security shows. In 2014 -- the most recent year for...more »

[image: Hand Guns - 900] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Gun rights activists featured in a new documentary on the issue hosted by Katie Couric say it utilizes deceptive editing to misrepresent their response to a question from the news anchor. Members of the Virginia Citizens Defense...more »

[image: Hillary Clinton Emails - 900] SALINAS, Calif. (AP) -- Hillary Clinton is telling voters not to trust Donald Trump. But a new government report about her usage of a private email server as secretary of state is complicating that message. The sharp rebuke from the...more »

[image: ultrasound - 900] Writer Kayla Webley just can't keep the creepy out of a lengthy profile of an abortionist published in Marie Claire this month, despite her efforts to portray the doctor as a warm and compassionate caregiver. The profile is part of...more »

[image: Daddy Daughter Dance, Toddler Girl, Dancing, Father, Parenting] Maybe parallel universes really do exist. Maybe, as my husband and I hiked through the deep, dark forest a few years ago, we somehow crossed through a portal, a stargate into another dimension -- a universe that, superficially at least,...more »

[image: FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015 file photo, Coptic Christians walk outside St. Markos Church in Minya, south of Cairo, Egypt. A Muslim mob ransacked and torched seven Christian homes in a province south of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after rumors spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman, according to a statement by the local Orthodox Coptic church. Released late Wednesday, it said that during the May 20, 2016 attack, the mother of the Christian man, who had fled the village, was publicly stripped of her clothes by the mob to humiliate her. (AP Phot...more »

[image: Baby with Zika virus - 900] NEW YORK (AP) -- As the international epidemic of Zika virus disease has unfolded and led to devastating birth defects for at least 1,300 children in eight countries, an agonizing question has persisted: What is the chance that an infected...more »

[image: Maryland Farmer Who Had $41K Seized by IRS Continues to Fight for Money] Maryland farmer Calvin Taylor has lived his life always trying to do the right thing. Taylor and his wife Debora operate C.W. Taylor Farms in Preston, Maryland, where they grow sweet corn and raise chickens, and run several farm stands,...more »

[image: LGBT Flag-900] WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House reversed itself late Wednesday and approved a measure aimed at upholding an executive order that bars discrimination against LGBT employees by federal contractors. More than 40 Republicans helped Democrats power the gay rights measure over...more »

By Paul Homewood http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-13/china-green-energy-firms-have-record-debt-due-as-yingli-defaults More evidence from Bloomberg of the financial consequences of the worldwide glut of solar panels: China’s clean-energy firms face record bond maturities this year, just as investor confidence was shaken by the default of a company that had been the world’s top solar-panel manufacturer. Renewable companies must repay […]

[image: President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference at the Shima Kanko Hotel in Shima, Japan, Thursday, May 26, 2016, after completion the third working session of the G-7 Summit. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)] SHIMA, Japan (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Thursday that foreign leaders are “rattled” by Donald Trump and have good reason to feel that way, as he accused the presumptive Republican presidential nominee of ignorance about world affairs. Weighing in...more »

By Paul Homewood h/t Stewgreen http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-16/germany-just-got-almost-all-of-its-power-from-renewable-energy Bloomberg ran this headline last week: Wind, solar, biomass and hydro met demand on Sunday afternoon Angela Merkel’s Energiewende is squeezing coal and gas margins Clean power supplied almost all of Germany’s power demand for the first time on Sunday, marking a milestone for Chancellor […]

[image: 3rd Commandment Calligraphy - 900] I never quite understood this verse: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7) I always equated “taking the Lord’s...more »

*Published on May 17, 2016* Click the link for more videos on our website // http://bit.ly/CardinalSessionsNews Nahko and Medicine for the People is a music collective fronted by Nahko Bear. They have a new record this year, called "Hoka". We met the guys some time ago - this is "Love Letters To God". Check them out at: http://nahko.com *Lyrics* [Chorus] Love letters to God Wonder if she reads them, or if they get lost In the stars, the stars, in the stars So many parts to a heavy heart If there’s no beginning, then where would you start? Start, start, where would you start? ...more »

*WNU Editor:* When I was in China in the 1980s I was invited to an Army base .... I was not impressed. The soldiers wore ill-fitting clothes, were not happy to be there, and were wearing sandals instead of boots. Their equipment was just as bad. Today .... 30 years later .... looking at the above video .... I can say without reservation that the Chinese have progressed a lot in the past 3 decades .... and one has to wonder (and imagine) where they will be 30 years from now.

Parents across the U.S. are rejecting Common Core, as more and more students and parents are opting-out of their ridiculous program en masse. Over half a million school-aged children opted out of Common Core standardized testing last year, and that number is rapidly increasing. Tenth Amendment Center reports: In November 2013, Federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan attributed opposition to Common Core to “white suburban moms” who discovered that “all of a sudden, their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were and their school isn’t quite as good as they thought.” Like so ...more »

Residents in Ohio who want to collect rain water in their backyards will have to pay a mandatory tax imposed by the local government. Any resident installing a rain barrel in their yard will have to pay a $31 fee for the privilege. Wearechange.org reports: Last week, the Sun Post reported that it would cost just $1 to install a rain barrel. That was based on a reading of a rain-barrel ordinance that City Council approved May 7. The ordinance established regulations for rain barrels. The ordinance — while referencing another pre-existing code section — seems to state that the city fe...more »

Parents in Canada who refuse to allow their kids to be vaccinated will be forced to attend a mandatory ‘vaccine class’ on ‘immunization facts’, according to new legislation being proposed by Ontario lawmakers. Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins tabled a bill that would force parents to complete an “educational session” before the parents made their final decision on whether or not to vaccinate their children. If they do not attend the class, they will be forced to have their kids vaccinated. Globalnews.ca reports: “Choosing to vaccinate your child protects them from disease and i...more »

Police in Chicago have resorted to using a new Big Brother-style “pre-crime” computer that tells them who they should arrest, based on an algorithm that does all the work for them. The Chicago Police Department are using a new algorithm to determine which members of the public should be “targeted” – eliminating the old fashioned need for detective work and evidence. Zerohedge.com reports: Each individual on the list is provided a score based on arrests, shootings, affiliations with gangs, and other variables. The intent of the list is to predict who is next to be shot, or shoot som...more »

Hillary Clinton has spectacularly failed a State Department audit, which found her guilty of mismanaging email and computer information whilst she was Secretary of State. The audit states a general “longstanding, systemic weaknesses” relating to communications which apparently got “more serious” when Clinton took office. Fox5dc.com reports: These started before Clinton’s appointment as secretary of state, but her failures were singled out as more serious. The review came after revelations Clinton exclusively used a private email account and server while in office. Clinton is now the...more »

A former 9/11 Commissioner has said that the Saudi Royal family had intelligence about the 9/11 terror attacks in advance, possibly implicating them in the attacks. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher asked members of the panel at a House Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing to raise their hands in response to the following question: “How many of you there believe that the royal family of Saudi Arabia did not know and was unaware that there was a terrorist plot being implemented that would result in an historic terrorist attack in the United States, in the lead up to 9/11?” Two raised their ha...more »

British Prime Minister David Cameron, or Dodgy Dave as he’s often referred to in the Commons, swung by a used car centre over the weekend to buy a second hand car for his wife. A local car dealer had a surprising visit from the PM, who apparently wanted to buy a £1,500 Nissan Micra for his wife Samantha. Thus apparently proving the Mr Cameron is a commoner just like everyone else. Independent.co.uk reports: “I just thought it was one of my friends having a wind up, obviously, as you do,” Mr Harris told the Independent. But when the PM actually turned up he thought: “Oh my god, it i...more »

Last Week’s Senate bill that supposedly made it easier for 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabia, turns out to have been a cruel hoax perpetrated by comedian Amy Schumer’s cousin, Senator Charles Schumer. Schumer secretly stuffed an amendment into the final draft that allows the attorney general and secretary of state to veto any litigation from 9/11 families against the Saudis. Nypost.com reports: Yes, JASTA would remove the statutory restrictions that have prevented 9/11 families from taking the Saudi kingdom to court. But Schumer helped craft an entirely new section to the original ...more »

[image: Rocket-900] A Kansas Army National Guard crew sends a rocket downrange during a training exercise at Fort Riley in Kansas on May 14, 2016. Thank you to Amanda Kim Stairrett for taking this photograph!

“This sharp telescopic field of view holds two bright galaxies. Barred spiral NGC 5101 (top right) and nearly edge-on system NGC 5078 are separated on the sky by about 0.5 degrees or about the apparent width of a full moon. Found within the boundaries of the serpentine constellation Hydra, both are estimated to be around 90 million light-years away and similar in size to our own large Milky Way galaxy. *Click image for larger size.* In fact, if they both lie at the same distance their projected separation would be only 800,000 light-years or so. That's easily less than half the dista...more »

*“Spooked”* by Chet Raymo “The word everyone uses is "spooky." What they are talking about is entanglement, the spooky heart of quantum mechanics. You create a pair of subatomic particles, photons say, and send them on their separate ways. The particles seem to know what is happening to each other on their separate journeys. An activity performed on one particle can instantaneously change the properties of the other particle, no matter how far apart. And- this is the kicker- apparently instantaneously. Their fates are "entangled." In the latest test of entanglement, physicists enta...more »

*"Time to Raise the White Flag at Gualfin?"* by Bill Bonner BALTIMORE, Maryland – "We are all originarios… There were two newsworthy developments last week, neither of them really important – the first because it won’t happen, the second because it won’t matter. First, the Fed let it be known that it has “normalcy” once again in its sights. “Prospect of rate rise grows as U.S. moves closer to passing Fed tests,” reported the Financial Times on Monday. As we know, the Fed can’t return to normal because normal includes a correction on Wall Street – the very thing it has worked so des...more »

"Thomas Edison said in all seriousness: "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the labor of thinking"- if we bother with facts at all, we hunt like bird dogs after the facts that bolster up what we already think- and ignore all the others! We want only the facts that justify our acts- the facts that fit in conveniently with our wishful thinking and justify our preconceived prejudices. As Andre Maurois put it: "Everything that is in agreement with our personal desires seems true. Everything that is not puts us into a rage." Is it any wonder, then, that we fin...more »

"The Almanac of Last Things" "From the almanac of last things I choose the spider lily for the grace of its brief blossom, though I myself fear brevity, but I choose The Song of Songs because the flesh of those pomegranates has survived all the frost of dogma. I choose January with its chill lessons of patience and despair- and August, too sun-struck for lessons. I choose a thimbleful of red wine to make my heart race, then another to help me sleep. From the almanac of last things I choose you, as I have done before. And I choose evening because the light clinging to the window is at its...more »

"U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holds an Iraqi child killed in central Iraq in this March 29, 2003 file photo. Confused front line crossfire ripped apart an Iraqi family after local soldiers appeared to force civilians towards positions held by U.S. Marines." - REUTERS/Damir Sagolj “My heart broke on its shame and sorrow. I suddenly knew how much crying there was in me, and how little love. I knew, at last, how lonely I was. But I couldn’t respond. My culture had taught me all the wrong things well. So I lay completely still, an...more »

*Iraqi child, wounded in Baghdad.* "I once was a little child who longed for other worlds, but I am no more a child for I have known fear, I have learned to hate, how tragic then is youth which lives with enemies, with gallows ropes. Yet, I still believe I only sleep today, that I’ll wake up, a child again, and start to laugh and play.” - Hama Herchenberg, 14 years old. Died December 18, 1943, Auschwitz concentration camp. *Don't you dare look away! * *This* is what we have done, and continue to do, all of us. All this blood is on our hands, and you scream and cry about "terrorism", and...more »

*"Nobody Is Ready, Willing, Or Able To Ask * *And/Or Answer Questions Of Substance"* by hedgeless_horseman "I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket." -Major General Smedley Butler, USMC, Two-Time Congressional Medal of Honor Winner Author of "War is a Racket!" "In observing politicians, the media, and American citizens, one thing is clear to me about the presidential, congres...more »

"That's where it all begins. That's where we all get screwed big time as we grow up. They tell us to think, but they don't really mean it. They only want us to think within the boundaries they define. The moment you start thinking for yourself- really thinking- so many things stop making any sense. And if you keep thinking, the whole world just falls apart. Nothing makes sense anymore. All rules, traditions, expectations- they all start looking so fake, so made up. You want to just get rid of all this stuff and make things right. But the moment you say it, they tell you to shut up a...more »

*“Why I Am #NeverHillary”* by Ted Rall "Hillary Clinton’s coronation at the Democratic national convention is likely but not a foregone conclusion. Since the superdelegates won’t vote until July, and neither she nor Bernie Sanders will arrive in Philadelphia with the requisite number of pledged delegates to clinch the nomination, there is still the possibility that the party bosses will see sense, internalize the polls that show she’s weaker than him against Trump, and push the superdelegates to support the populist senator from Vermont. But sense is in short supply in American pol...more »

*"Beware What You Wish For: Russia Is Ready For War”* By Pepe Escobar “So foreign ministers from the 28 NATO member-nations met in Brussels for a two-day summit, while mighty military power Montenegro was inducted as a new member. Global Robocop NATO predictably discussed Afghanistan (a war NATO ignominiously lost); Iraq (a war the Pentagon ignominiously lost); Libya (a nation NATO turned into a failed state devastated by militia hell); Syria (a nation NATO, via Turkey, would love to invade, and is already a militia hell). Afghans must now rest assured that NATO's Resolute Support...more »

Japan Must ‘Renounce War Forever’ *Times Record (Brunswick, Maine)* *Op-Ed* By Bruce K. Gagnon The 2016 theme for the local Memorial Day Parade is “Remembering Pearl Harbor, 75 Years Later.” This theme has many contemporary applications that I would like to address. After the surrender of the fascist Japanese government in 1945 a new constitution was written for Japan. On May 3, 1947, Japan’s postwar constitution went into effect. The progressive constitution granted universal suffrage, stripped Emperor Hirohito of all but symbolic power, stipulated a bill of rights, abolished ...more »

*SKY News:* *Exclusive: Unseen Battle For South China Sea* Sky News visits the front line as China imposes itself on areas of the South China Sea claimed by five other countries. Technically, we are in international waters, but we are heading close to the Chinese-controlled Subi Reef, and the Philippines fishermen on board are frightened. The captain and his crew are up on deck keeping watch, anxiously scanning the horizon. Some of the men want to turn around. They are afraid of being intercepted, and rammed. Tensions in the region are high - and rising. China lays claim to mos...more »

*UCSF Do No Harm Coalition at City Hall in San Francisco* *-by Denise Sullivan* Following last Thursday's SFPD shooting of Jessica Williams in San Francisco's Bayview District, the campaign to Fire Chief Suhr succeeded when Mayor Ed Lee called for his resignation by day's end, while the push to reclaim the City by the Frisco 5 and their growing community of supporters, including medical professionals, remains in full force. "The guy is no longer the chief and it's our victory, your victory," said the Frisco 5's Maria Cristina Gutierrez. "It took the sacrifice," she said of SFPD's l...more »

Boys stand around a fire in Sur district where clashes have taken place between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants, in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, December 24, 2015. REUTERS/SERTAC KAYAR *Robert Worth, New York Times*: *Behind the Barricades of Turkey’s Hidden War* A simmering conflict with the Kurds threatens to consume an American ally and inflame an already-unstable region. On the morning of Oct. 29, 2014, a long convoy of armored vehicles and trucks rolled northward in the shadow of Iraq’s Zagros Mountains and crossed a bridge over the Khabur River,...more »

Ah, the rich tapestry of human existence. Channel 4 has previously leered at dogging, and taken a voyeuristic peek behind the doors of exclusive sex parties. Polyamory, elderly sex workers, German brothels are also recent topics of late night tabloid telly. Who and what next? The commissioning editors must have thought long and hard before before coming up with ... human dogs. No, I'm not talking about dogs who want to be human (doesn't that encompass all dogs anyway?). It's the other way round. Human beings, *grown adults* acting and performing like canines in dog suits. This is a...more »

*Partialities have sidelined, as Illuminaries flourish* by ÉirePort Partialities have sidelined, as Illuminaries flourish. Stagnations averted for all, marshals are the protectors. Relinquished and vanquished find their constabularies. Feathers are emblazoned with the Fires of Insight. ÉirePort | May 25, 2016 at 07:07 | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2sFUY-yC

*Dan Wilkofsky and Ammar Hamou, VICE News:* *Assad's Army Just Captured a Key Breadbasket — And It Means 600,000 Syrians Could Starve* More than half a million people in rebel-held suburbs to the east of Damascus are facing imminent starvation, after the Syrian army broke through rebel lines last week, separating people from the agricultural land that was the area's breadbasket. The people of East Ghouta have survived a three-year siege thanks to produce grown in fields near their homes — and now that they have lost that territory they face a grim fate, similar to other besieged, ...more »

Following on from our previous post: The Red Hunt Planned an October Carbon Tax Malcolm Turnbull's agreement with the National's as reported by Simon Benson last September: (link) Nationals leader Warren Truss, who was reported to be privately seething at the change of Liberal leadership, said his party would work with Mr Turnbull — but at a cost. Critical to the Nationals’ endorsement of Mr Turnbull as PM was a pledge written into the agreement that *he would not change existing policy on climate change *or same-sex marriage. In other words, it locked Mr Turnbull into *a promise n...more »

Russia's Mariinsky Theatre orchestra performs at the amphitheatre in the Syria's historic city of Palmyra [Reuters] *James Denselow, Al Jazeera:* *Where next for Russia in Syria?* Russia has been able to call the shots because no other global power is willing to put as many chips on the table. A good means of predicting what Moscow's next steps in the Syria conflict is to listen to what Russian political and military leaders say and prepare for the opposite. While other actors on this most bloody of stages have been characterised by their preference for short-term tactics, the Russ...more »

*Jonathan Clarke, Long Island Berniecrat* Bernie's endorsement of Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Lucy Flores (D-NV) and Zephyr Teachout (D-NY) has raised about $400,000 for each of them in about a month. His endorsement over the weekend of Tim Canova brought Tim $250,000 in the first 24 hours! Yesterday he endorsed 8 candidates for state legislatures. "I'm proud to announce," he wrote to his followers, "that I am endorsing seven progressive candidates for state legislatures across this country. These seven candidates-- activists, civil rights attorneys, and the children of immigrants-- wil...more »

[image: Protesters call for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to veto a bill that would outlaw most abortions in the state past 19 weeks, on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Columbia, SC. The only exceptions would be to save the life of the mother or if the fetus cannot survive outside the womb. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)] COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Republican Gov. Nikki Haley signed legislation Wednesday that immediately outlaws most abortions in South Carolina at 20 weeks beyond fertilization. The only exceptions are if the mother’s life is in jeopardy or a doctor determines the fetus...more »

[image: Eid Stras - 900] Last week, Donald Trump issued his short list of potential SCOTUS picks, claiming they were conservatives who would follow conservative hero Antonin Scalia, who died in February. Trump said he worked with The Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization, and The Heritage Foundation...more »

Human Shield of Prayer Moves in Front of Dakota Access Pipeline Construction! Posted on May 24, 2016 May 24, 2016 – Camp of the Sacred Stones, Cannon Ball, North Dakota Indigenous Rising http://indigenousrising.org/human-shield-of-prayer-moves-in-front-of-dakota-access-pipeline-construction/ Today, in opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline and the illegal start of its construction

*Sami Yousafzai, Daily Beast*: *The Taliban’s Cruel New Leader* Mullah Haibatullah Akhondzada was known as a hanging judge in Kandahar before rising to power over the last year, but he seems to be a favorite of the Pakistanis. Just before two American Hellfire missiles blew up the leader of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan over the weekend, he was on the phone with other senior figures in the movement, one of them tells The Daily Beast, “Then we lost contact with him.” That Mullah Mansour was using a form of communication that American intelligence can monitor, and does, and which ...more »

Let's see. Moncton wants to make its downtown core more active. One of the most active buildings in the downtown core is the public library. It's conveniently located for library users. The building is in good shape; it's cheap for the library; and it's well equipped. So, some genius says... "I know. Let's move it to the outer edge of anyhing that could be called a downtown core. Let's renovate an old school that we were told some years ago was beyond repair. We'll repair it at great expense; we'll go through the tremendous cost of moving a library, and setting up the new quarters ...more »

*Masoud Popalzai, Euan McKirdy, Tim Lister and Tim Hume, CNN*: *Taliban's new leader 'natural choice' to unite group, say analysts* (CNN)The Taliban has named a senior religious cleric from its founding generation as its new leader, in a decision the Afghan militant group hopes will avoid succession disputes, analysts say. Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada was the "natural choice" to succeed Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan Saturday, said Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts' Network. "He was already the senior deputy to Mullah Mansour...more »

[image: Copies of President Barack Obama's Fiscal Year 2017 budget are distributed by the Senate Budget Committee distributes on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, February 9, 2016. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)] The White House has threatened to veto the House's energy and water appropriations bill, which spends more than President Barack Obama requested, but contains provisions that restrict government power. This week the House will consider the $37.5 billion spending package,...more »

[image: This Oct. 29, 2013 photo shows the CLOUD experiment simulation chamber at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) outside of Geneva, Switzerland. That’s where scientists have found a new natural process for cloud formation, which may scale back some of the more dire predictions about man-made global warming.] WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new discovery about how clouds form may scale back some of the more dire predictions about temperature increases caused by man-made global warming. That’s because it implies that a key assumption for making such predictions is...more »

[image: U.S. Congressman Raul Labrador of Idaho speaking with supporters of U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky at a campaign rally in Orem, Utah on August 29, 2015.] Puerto Rico made Rep. Raul Labrador, but the fact he was born there, and called it home until he was 13 years old did not inspire him to help the island with its debt crisis. In his five years as...more »

[image: A woman walks by a rundown building on Saturday July 04, 2015 in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The historic area brings in many tourists. (Photo by Matt McClain/ The Washington Post via Getty Images)] Congress should not pass legislation to have taxpayers bail out Puerto Rico's economic crisis, or allow the United States territory to file for bankruptcy, reads a memo from conservative leaders. "Both steps are bad policy and both should be avoided,"...more »

[image: smoker - 900] NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation seems to be kicking its smoking habit faster than ever before. The rate of smoking among adults in the U.S. fell to 15 percent last year thanks to the biggest one-year decline in more...more »

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I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.